From Hot Seat to Hero: How Jim Harbaugh Flipped the Script
If you're a Michigan Football fan who claims to have predicted a 12-1 season that resulted in a win over Ohio State, a Big Ten Championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff, you're lying.
Heading into the 2021 season, ESPN gave the Michigan Wolverines a 2% chance of winning the Big Ten Championship, a 0% chance of making the College Football Playoff and predicted a fourth-place finish within the conference. The schedule, the new staff, the uncertainty with Jim Harbaugh and the question marks at several key positions - all of it led to the belief that Michigan was still worlds away from competing with the likes of Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.
Like the rest of the country, ESPN was dead wrong about the Michigan Wolverines.
On the heels of a brutal 2-4 record in 2020 and a contract negotiation that led to a significant pay cut, head coach Jim Harbaugh responded by leading the Wolverines to their first Big Ten Championship since 2004 - along with the No. 2 spot in the College Football Playoff. Oh, and he beat Ohio State.
For Michigan fans, the 2021 season has come as a pleasant surprise. For Jim Harbaugh, the 2021 season is the result of a process that began many, many months ago.
“I don’t know if I really have a spectacular quote or anything like that for you," said Harbaugh following an impressive 42-27 win over Ohio State. "It’s just what you do, it’s what you do. You just keep working, keep grinding, knowing that it’s going to pay off. This team is beautifully soldered together as a team, as a true team. There was the new; we have a lot of new players. Guys like JJ, Donovan Edwards, Andrel Anthony, Rod Moore, and many others that produced. New staff that brought perspective, new perspective, new ideas, energy. There’s a long list of guys like that that are phenomenal. Brought so much energy and perspective to the squad."
That new energy and perspective from the staff was a big talking point leading up to the 2021 season. With the departure of guys like defensive coordinator Don Brown and offensive line coach Ed Warinner, Harbaugh's staff became younger and more diverse - a move that certainly resonated with his players.
“We got a young staff and I love all the coaches that coach Harbaugh brought in. It’s kind of a different energy around Schembechler (Hall) these days,” said defensive end Aidan Hutchinson over the summer. “Everyone’s excited, everybody’s just fired up to keep working on this defense and get out there and practice it.”
Guys like Ron Bellamy, Mike Hart, Mike Macdonald, Sherrone Moore and Steve Clinkscale are some of the brightest minds in all of college football. Perhaps just as importantly, they're also culture guys. They're masters at developing strong relationships and bonds with their players, something that is obviously critical in today's college football.
Harbaugh then shifted his focus to core leadership of the team, the guys he refers to as the "foundation".
"And then there’s the guys I like to refer to as the 'foundation'," said Harbaugh. "They’re the foundation of the team and that’s the biggest number of guys — guys that were here in 2020, guys that were here somewhere in 2020, ’19, ’18, ’17, ’16. Going all the way back to 2015. Those are the guys. They were raised, they learned that you don’t just fold or quit at the slightest whiff of adverse circumstances. So many in that group, so many coaches and players — Cade McNamara, Dax Hill — long, long list of guys."
Like Harbaugh, the veteran leadership on this team has endured years of significant setbacks and heartbreak. Whether it was trouble with the snap, the spot, the historic back-to-back losses to Ohio State in '18 and '19 or any of the other heartbreakers that have occurred over the last seven years, the core leadership of this Michigan team never wavered.
“And just committed guys, truly committed guys," said Harbaugh. "The seniors on our team that have been here the longest, worked the most. Have overcome some adverse circumstances — injury, other kind of setbacks. I’m just talking all players here. All those seniors. And the fourth group: the ones. The ones — without them we wouldn’t be where we are. Guys that are really, literally, willing to take the team on their backs. If there was like a train, like a locomotive going down the tracks, they stopped it, picked it up onto their backs, turned it around and started pushing. The rest of us started pushing, too. Those guys — Aidan Hutchinson, Hassan Haskins, Brad Hawkins, Andrew Vastardis, Josh Ross, Moody, Robbins and Ronnie Bell, and Ryan Hayes. We wouldn’t be where we’re at without them.”
Though Harbaugh heaped praise on to his players and his staff, the reality is that he's the architect behind it all. These are his players, this is his staff, this is his football program.
Seven years into his tenure at the University of Michigan, Jim Harbaugh has finally done what everyone thought he would do when he came home - and he did it his way. Against all odds, the man once dubbed 'Captain Comeback' has built the Michigan Football program into a legitimate national championship contender once again.
Welcome back, Mr. Harbaugh.
